I was prompted to write this because i read on someones blog that they could no longer be friends with their gay friend of 2 years. They hated the fact that he was gay just as much as they hated Muslims!!

This is so common but i still find it hard to accept these kind of people or even give them a moment of my time/thought.(which i am doing at this moment lol) Is that discrimination on my part , i wonder ?

Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude(usually negative) towards an individual based solely on the individual’s membership of a social group.

For example, a person may be prejudice towards a certain race or gender etc. (e.g. sexist).

Discrimination is the behavior or actions, usually negative, towards an individual or group of people, especially on the basis of sex/race/social class.

During my life i have faced both prejudice and discrimination. My father was Polish and settled here in the UK after the war. Growing up i often faced insults .e.g “dirty Polak go home” . My mother was accused of being a traitor to her kind and my father hated for pinching a woman beyond his class/culture/league. We were despised because my father made a success of his life and i have to say this was because he was a worker and not a lounger and moaner like the people who despised us. I am pretty tough skinned so i don’t think this did any permanent damage to my self esteem.

During my 45 years of marriage to a lovely, peace loving,laid back Pakistani i faced even worse prejudice and discrimination. “whore, low class, paki lover amongst a few. I made friends who seemed to like me and when they found that i was married to an Asian they completely changed their opinion. I have been turned down for jobs as soon as i gave my married name, my children have been treated as second hand goods and we have been treated unfairly by police, airport officials etc etc.

My husband has often been told “I don’t like Pakis but your different” stupid people!! He shrugs it off and i am proud to say that he is comfortable in his own skin. As far as i am concerned i am not so tolerant and they don’t stay on our friends list for long 😉 I have been told ” I cant believe your a Muslim, i cant believe your married to a Paki, you just don’t seem the sort”! I wouldn’t even give these people a second chance.

Do you have to be intelligent or educated to realise that every individual is different from the next and that they cant be judged on the behaviour of others ?. Every individual has the right to be either accepted or rejected on their own personality/actions or behaviour.

I have often thought that if everyone was content from the very beginning,with who they are,and were also content to let others be who they are,then perhaps we would all be content to live and let live. Hubby and i have instilled this in our children and we are proud to say that they have grown into well adjusted individuals who are broad minded, intelligent, just and proud of their heritage.

Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda. Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity. Racism** can, will, and must be defeated.” ― Kofi Annan

Slowly-by-slowley (A roadtrip through one Turkish-American marriage) writes On post 9/11 travel. This is the blog of a very wise, educated young woman who touches a subject that has prompted me to write this post.

I traveled to The US many years ago and really enjoyed the experience. Americans are just like me, they don’t have 2 heads or shoot you on sight. They are friendly, grumpy, rude,polite, ignorant, educated and they are just like anyone else on the planet 😉 However… their politics/policies leave a great deal to be desired, especially after 9/11

I would have loved to take my dear hubby to the Space Center in Houston, Texas. To show him that dear old UK would look like a toy town compared to Miami, Florida or Tennessee, the places i have visited. He would not believe the size of the plates and glasses served up in fast food joints and even in cafes where you can get 1/2 a litre of coke in a standard glass! I could go on and on about the massive differences i enjoyed experiencing but i just don’t have the time.

Since 9/11 many people we know including non Muslims who are Asian have had terrible experiences after arriving at airports in the US. An Indian female (Hindu) co worker of my hubby was held for 1 hour in solitary before being strip searched. She was quite traumatised and in tears all of the time. Her holiday to visit relatives was ruined. A Sikh…for goodness sake, wearing a turban had a similar experience. He was made to remove his turban which you may or may not know is an article of faith that has been made mandatory by the founders of Sikhism. It is not to be regarded as mere cultural paraphernalia. Its an insult to make someone take it off.

Strip searching is taking place even with US citizens and that’s bad enough but the treatment is even worse for people who look Asian or Middle Eastern

Now i know you might say the US have to protect themselves from terrorism but its become mass paranoia hyped by the media and politics to their own agenda. I would like people to reflect on who are actually the ‘Terrorists’ Come on Americans is this really how you want the world to see you? Is this how you want to be treated?

Unfortunately hubby refuses to be put through the process of detainment,strip search and humiliation. I know for a fact that if we did go together i would suffer the same humiliation as him.

Today I felt a need to write about Islam. I usually don’t discuss Politics or Religion as these subjects can get quite heated but in this instance I decided to open a post which will allow people to learn a little bit and give them an opportunity to ask questions

As a Muslim it hurts and makes me ashamed of the actions of so called fellow Muslims. It seems we are all judged the same. No one in their right minds can agree that acts of terror or barbaric actions are acceptable from anyone

True Muslims believe in peace for all humanity. Islam is the religion of peace. Even its greeting which is “Salam” is the Arabic word for “peace”. Violence in Islam is not acceptable even against animals. There is an element within Muslim community to who do not adhere to this. There are similar groups in other countries who are not Muslim like the Irish Republican Army in Ireland used to be or the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. I also include other so called Christian nations (unnamed) Any of whom could be called terrorist or who have done terrorist like acts.

I have come across too many sites that claim to teach about/give information about or proclaim to be Islamic which are full of crap! Excuse my language but it makes me so mad that people who want to find out information are being fed lies and hatred. I hope to direct you to authentic websites and also answer your questions to the best of my ability.

To start you off i will give an example of misconceptions and this is for Muslims as well. However we will always find those who will not agree and have their own school of thought.

Question:

Does Islam require women to cover themselves?

Answer:

Yes:(24:30) (O Prophet), enjoin believing men to cast down their looks29 and guard their private parts.30 That is purer for them. Surely Allah is well aware of all what they do. (24:31) And enjoin believing women to cast down their looks31 and guard their private32 parts33 and not reveal their adornment34 except that which is revealed of itself,35 and to draw their veils over their bosoms,36 and not to reveal their adornment save to their husbands,37 or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands,38 or of their own sons, or the sons of their husbands,39 or their brothers,40 or the sons of their brothers,41 or the sons of their sisters,42 or the women with whom they associate,43 or those that are in their bondage,44 or the male attendants in their service free of sexual interest,45 or boys that are yet unaware of illicit matters pertaining to women.46 Nor should they stamp their feet on the ground in such manner that their hidden ornament becomes revealed.47 Believers, turn together, all of you, to Allah in repentance49 that you may attain true success.48

However there are many who would interpet this according to their own way but if you really want to know more i suggest you visit the link below.

The word Jihad represents a concept which is much misunderstood in the West. The concept is explained nicely by the Christian scholar Ira 6. Zepp, Jr. in his book entitled A Muslim Primer on pages 133-135.

The essential meaning of Jihad is the spiritual, psychological, and physical effort we exert to be close to God and thus achieve a just and harmonious society. Jihad literally means “striving” or “struggle” and is shorthand for Jihad fi Sabeel Allah (struggle for God’s cause). In a sense, every Muslim is a Mujahid, one who strives for God and justice.
Al-Ghazali captured the essence of Jihad when he said: “The real Jihad is the warfare against (one’s own) passions. Dr. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi calls Jihad “the execution of effort against evil in the self and every manifestation of evil in society.” In a way, Jihad is the Muslim’s purest sacrifice: a struggle to live a perfect life and completely submit to God.
Another form of Jihad is the striving to translate the Word of God into action. If one has experienced God and received guidance from the Qur’an, one struggles to apply that guidance in daily life. So the larger, more prevalent meaning of Jihad is the spiritual struggle of the soul. In this case, Jihad is always present for the believer whether there is an external enemy or not. We should never reduce Jihad to violence.
A third level of Jihad is popularly known as “holy war.” The classic passage is found in the Qur’an: Fight in the way of Allah those who fight against you, but transgress not the limits. Truly Allah likes not the transgressors (Qur’an 2:190).
It is crucial to note here that what is condoned is defensive warfare; Islam cannot justify aggressive war. Muhammad and the Tradition are also against killing non-combatants, torturing of prisoners, the destruction of crops, animals and homes. Adapted from Ira 6. Zepp, Jr., A Muslim Primer (1992, Wakefield Editions, US) pp.133-135.

Is a Muslims God different to a Christian God?

In Islamic theology, God (Arabic: Allāh) is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of the universe.[1][2] Islam puts a heavy emphasis on the conceptualization of God as strictly singular (tawhid).[3] God is unique (wahid) and inherently One (ahad), all-merciful and omnipotent.[4] According to the Islamic teachings, God exists without a place.[5] According to the Qur’an, “No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. God is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things” (Qur’an 6:103)[2]

Please feel free to ask any questions in a respectfull manner. I will delete any comments that are made to stir up hatred on all sides.

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. … Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

An early version of the speech as published in A Martin Luther King Treasury (1964), p. 173, has : “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate…”

Like this:

From Russia with Hate. I recently read this on a blog and it made me want to write my views which normally i don’t discuss.

I was brought up a Catholic and converted to Islam at the age of 25. This was my own choice. Each religion condemns homosexuality so i lived my life despising gay people. As i got older, maybe in my late 40’s i started to question a lot of things one being homosexuality. Like many other people i always believed being Gay was a deviant choice one made. Its hard to accept when something like this has been ingrained in you from birth, that some people are born this way, that genes can affect the way you respond to the other sex.

A cross-national study in the United States, the Philippines, and Sweden found that those who believed that “homosexuals are born that way” held significantly more positive attitudes toward homosexuality than those who believed that “homosexuals choose to be that way” or “learn to be that way”. I am one of those people because i ask myself why would anyone choose to be gay when there is so much hatred and a lifetime of being on the fringe of society? When i saw the video about “From Russia with hate” it made me angry and sad. Why would anyone want to put themselves in that position through choice.

Former “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon says she is gay by “choice. Now if i was gay this would make me very angry because of all the work gone into educating the world that one is not gay by choice..People like Cynthia are the ones that make us think in a very negative way about homosexuality.

I could go on and on but not see an end to this debate in my lifetime. I am still a Muslim albeit far from perfect and i dont consider myself any less a believer because of my current views on homosexuality.

I would just like to say that everyone has a right to love and be loved, to live happily in a relationship with someone they care deeply for. What happens in their private sexual life is their business but just like heterosexuals i don’t expect them to flaunt their sexuality in public. I will treat people justly regardless of their sexuality based on their social and behavioural interaction with me and society in general.